Page 10 - Sam Ath News Today

Civil society organisations (CSOs) and hundreds of people from all walks of life met at a two-day “Cambodian citizens’ forum” in the capital to voice their concerns, hoping their issues will be addressed and included in national and regional policies.

A senior official of the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons (GDP) said GDP is working to reduce overcrowding in prisons though the construction of more custodial facilities, the renovation of current accommodation and the transfer of detainees.

People affected by flooding in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district have asked authorities to coordinate with loan institutions because they have lost crops.

With the financial support of the Germany and Australia through the German Agency for International Cooperation, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, the Ministry of Planning announced new family identification procedures and extended coverage to vulnerable families.

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng instructed authorities to continue their crackdown on illegal gambling and drugs, while warning officials including law enforcement officers not to associate themselves with the crime. Separately, Sar Kheng also denied allegations of the concentration of power by his ministry.

Kak Sovannchhay will be haunted by his conviction for the rest of his life, his mother said.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak told reporters that over October 2-3, the ministry received 18 complaints summated by outside individuals and organisations who are searching for 52 people thought to be somewhere in the Kingdom. The cases are possibly related to human trafficking.

Kandal Provincial Court on October 4 placed a man identified as Thel Thilen, 32, in custody at the provincial prison on charges of “stealing someone else’s property”. Thilen is an activist who filed a petition against the issuance of permanent residency permits to Vietnamese and the introduction of a Vietnamese-language department at a university in Cambodia.

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a warning to people who are living in the Angkor Archaeological Park and refuse to relocate their houses. He told them that when measures are taken to clear the area are over, they will not receive any form of compensation, as the government will not allow the Angkor temples to be de-listed by UNESCO.

Cambodia has established August 20 as National Inter-Faith Day Against Human Trafficking, to be observed from 2023 onwards.